Give me my championship ring!!!

For those of you who are wondering why I put a picture of some dude giving a peace sign to the camera after carving an L into a person's head, it's not to remind everybody that the Laker season kicks off this evening. It's to remind you how ridiculously crazy Ron Artest is. I know I've seen this done all over the place but this guy has yet to play a single regular game for the Los Angeles Lakers. And the last time he did, he was almost getting in a fight with Kobe Bryant.

The good news about Artest is that he isn't getting a Laker Ring tonight but BJ MBENGA IS! There is nothing like ring ceremonies. The reminence of winning the Championship leaks into the new basketball season and we pick up where we left off - and the Lakers get the bling to prove it. Then the 2008/2009 championship banner is raised and placed where the LA Sparks championship banner once lived. Poor girls.

Of course right when I gave praise to the Clippers Blake Griffen breaks his knee cap. I used to think the Clippers were just a joke of a franchise, sort of like the Raiders, but they have really bad luck. I guess that's what you get for practicing too hard.

Thinking back a couple days ago when I was on the Clippers jock, I want to take that back. I keep forgetting that Mike Dunleavy is their coach and as good as a person he is, he is not a good leader for this team. You can't take on two major responsibilities - a GM and a head coach. Not him.

I don't agree with the BCS

It is now set in stone. Yankees vs Phillies. Battle of the two largest cities on the East side of the United States. Make sure you head to Modell's to get your ALCS Champion Shirts! How exciting for the people that live on the west coast. Well, I think I might be the only person who is stoked. I was enjoying a lovely dinner with my family last night for my Grandmother's birthday while watching the game and I happened to be the only one rooting for the Yankees. They looked at me like I was from another planet. I mean am I the only person that doesn't want to see the 'other' LA team to make it to the world series? If it's not the Dodgers then it's definitely not going to be the Angels. The only reason I wanted them to win the world series a few years ago was because they were playing the Giants - the one team that bothers me more than the Angels.

It was a good thing this baseball game took place and brightened my mood because I got absolutely destroyed earlier with the football games. Surprisingly I got two out of three games correct in my college picks. I don't know, I might be back! That Bama game was very exciting and it's about time the LSU offense showed up. But can someone please answer me this? How in the world is it that LSU loses to the #1 team in the nation and is #9 and USC loses to an unranked team and is #5 in the BCS polls. Let's just look at the top ten below, shall we?

1 Florida 7-0
2 Alabama 8-0
3 Texas 7-0
4 Iowa 8-0
5 USC 6-1
6 TCU 7-0
7 Boise 7-0
8 Cincy 7-0
9 LSU 6-1
10 Oregon 6-1

As you can see LSU and Oregon are at the bottom of the list (rightfully so) because of their one loss. Don't you think that there should be one more one loss team at the bottom as well? NOT IN THE TOP 5? I know rankings at this point don't really matter because a lot will change from now until college football is over but I'm just trying to understand why the BCS has such a hard on for USC. Yes they went to ND and barely beat currently a #23 ranked team. Yes they went to Ohio state and barely beat #17 ranked team. In the beginning of this season I said that if USC won outright, they were going to the National Championship but the fact of the matter is that they have a loss and they should be ranked like they have one loss. The BCS is giving too little credit to these off the map ranked teams (remember that Bama/Utah bowl game last year?).

On a side note, my Wildcats are moving on up the rankings (they are #20). Their last game @ USC might just be an exciting one. They've come very close in the past few years.

Bitter Divorce

Could this week get any worse for me? I just want the Angels to go away. Why would they want to extend their season into the Bronx only to get ruined on Saturday? It's not going to even be a game. The Yankees are pissed they had to extend this season. The Yankee fans are pissed they have to spend one extra day out in the bitter cold. Everybody in NY just wanted to relax on Saturday. Now they are going to make the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pay.

I think I have been so absorbed into the actual baseball playoff games that I JUST heard about Frank and Jaime McCourt announcing their separation before the start of the NLCS and now Frank firing his separated wife from the CEO position of the Dodgers. That's the funniest thing I have heard in a long time. I have a feeling this is the start a long pissing contest between the two parties. Next thing you now, Jaime is going to put in her divorce papers that she wants sole custody of the Dodgers because she found out Frank was having sex with Alyssa Milano. Oy Vey.

The good news is that today is Friday and football is around the corner. Tomorrow is an ok college football day. The games aren't very nail biting on paper.

I like:

Oregon Vs Washington - Oregon is proving to be a better team then what they were to to open the season.

SC vs Oregon St. - SC is going to kill them

Bama vs Tenn - Bama will rip off Kiffen's head

And the reason I like these teams because I had initially picked Washington, Oregon St. and Tenn. If you have been following, my college picks have been terrible so I'm going opposite.

As far as NFL goes,

Cheifs (+4.5) over Chargers
We want Marty back! We want Marty back!

Texans (-3) over Niners
This is one of my tough ones. I don't know what to do but I'm going with the Texans. Sources say they haven't had a back to back win in a very long time and when they are favored they lose. But this might be the next generation Houston team.

Patriots (-14.5) over Bucs
I picked the Bucs last week and almost won. I'm not picking them this week and going to almost lose.

Colts (-13) over Rams
Colts will win by a lot.

Vikings (+4) over Steelers
Because everyone else is picking the Steelers and lets not forget, the Vikings are good.

Packers (-7) over Browns
The only QB that has a worse completion percentage than Jamarcus is Derek Anderson.

Panthers (-7) over Bills
Bills came off a great win last week. They will crumble.

Jets (-6) over Raiders
Note the above. And when was the last time the Raiders won a back to back game? I have no idea.

Bears (+1.5) over Bengals
The Bengals time to shine is over. The Bears time to be pissed off about last week is here.

Falcons (+4) over Cowboys
Just let me know when people will let go of the fact that the Cowboys are good. Just because they are flashy doesn't mean they are good.

Dolphins (+6.5) over Saints
Saints are playing outside of their comfort zone - and it's not air conditioned.

Cardinals (+7) over Giants
I think the Cardinals are done playing bad when they go east.

Eagles (-7) over Redskins
Wouldn't you be pissed if you lost to the biggest joke of the NFL?

For all you Dodger Fans that feel like a little laugh

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/red_october/102209_Video_Phillies_Fan_cab

RIP Dodgers of the 2009 Season

It's sad when this puts me in a good mood:

Seymour also said in a radio interview with 1530 Homer in Cincinnati that the Raiders (2-4) will make the playoffs this season.

The Dodgers had a tremendous first half of the season. I'm proud of them for the way they played and how far they got. I just want to say I'm not disappointed because the fact of the matter they made it to the post season while a ton of teams came up short - some, very short. The Phillies were a better team. They outplayed and out coached the Dodgers. The season ended the exact same way it ended the year before. The Dodgers have to do some major work during the off season. Relief pitching was a disaster. All Broxton knows how to do is throw a 99mph fast ball that batters know how to hit - or a ton of Balls. That guy needs to go. Hitting is good but for whatever reason it goes cold when we most need it. We need some sort of shakeup in our lineup.

Next year we are going to the world series. I see this happen all the time. For two years straight, I watched the Raiders make it to the AFC Championship game only to lose to a better Baltimore team and get totally f**cked over by a tuck rule. What happened the third year? They went to the Superbowl. The further along a team gets the more criticized they are when they lose. But lets not forget there were four teams left playing in October while all the other teams were golfing in Arizona. It was a great run. Until Next year Dodger Fans!

GO YANKEES!

Lay off the umps

They made mistakes and I'm not going to take away from that. But without those mistakes, Yankees still win that game last night. Pitching was stellar. The Angels can't seem to get anything going against the yanks. After all the ups and downs in New Yorks pitching, I think they finally got their s**t together. They got their money's worth with CC. Rivera just keeps getting younger too. I was just so impressed when bases were loaded with no outs and Rivera came in and didn't let a ball get out of the infield. The Yankees won that game but that was just an impressive performance by the old guy.

Onto another note, I would like to believe that the Dodgers can get back in this series but I don't see that happening tonight. Monday night was just too devastating. And did anyone hear about Manny missing the ninth inning on Monday? He was in the shower! I have a feeling all the Dodgers will be in the shower starting the 2nd inning today. See you in the Spring!

I'm literally sick

At about 8:59pm last night my husband saw me cry for the very first time. The text exchanges through my brother, father and I were all in disgust. My dad was in Hawaii but Jimmy Rolllins (or Jonathan Broxton) ruined his vacation. Usually these types of things don't happen to fans like us. I'm used to last second heroics - Kobe throwing Shaq an alley-oop that leads to a trip to the finals or a Robert Horry buzzer beater three pointer that results to another western conference championship. My teams are the ones that make it happen. When there are two on, one out, and my team is on defense, usually my team gets out of pickles like that.

We had the bottom of the order for the Phillies. All Broxton had to do was throw strikes. I was sick to my stomach last night and unfortunately woke up literally sick this morning. I just want to pretend nothing happened. I would have preferred just turning the tv off in the 9th inning and hearing about the outcome on sportscenter. I don't know why I sat there and put myself through torture. I threw in the towel in my last entry but last night I thought we had a chance to tie this series up. I don't even think I can watch the game tomorrow. I'm that disappointed, that much in shock and that upset.

The only somewhat good thing about last night was that I had Denver but unfortunately Philly ruined my night of excitement. I was just telling my husband how this was probably the best Monday I have ever experienced - Dodger and Yankee playoff games and Monday night football. How in the world could that have been ruined? Well, we all know the answer to that by now.

The good, the bad, the ugly

The good:

RAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDEEEEEERRRRRRRSSSSSSS!

Raiders defense was spectacular on Sunday. McNabb couldn't seem to get the ball to where it needed to go because the D was putting a great amount of pressure on him. He was a little off but I wouldn't take the credit away from the sliver and black.

And yes, Jamarcus proved he can be an ok quarterback. Two interceptions still makes him ok but he played a bit smarter this game. I mean it was fantastic that the Raiders kept running the same play on 3rd and long and Philly's defense couldn't seem to stop them. And I just love how hard Justin Fargas runs. He just puts his head down and steam rolls through the defenders.

My favorite part of the game was the 12th defender on the field - the pigeon. I don't know if anyone saw the little guy but he was just chillin about five yards from the play. And as the teams were driving down the field, so was the bird. I had a few laugh out loud moments because of the bird.

The bad: The new red paint on the wall at Staple Center. Yes, I went to a pre-season game last night and they decided to change the color of the entrance walls to a deep red. This is not the Clipper Center - it's the Staples Center.

Initial thoughts that actually have to do with Laker's Basketball:

1) Adam Morrison is going to be a good addition to team this year IF Phil puts him on the court. Saschy better watch out.
2) Ron Artest is a truck of a man. Maybe because the Houston Rocket Jersey made him look small, but that Yellow on him just brings out those arms. He's going to help our defense big time. We just have to make sure he doesn't go ape shit - fans beware!
3) Lamar sits on the bench and eats Starburst (he wasn't dressed).
4) Clippers are going to be good this year - Blake Griffen is pretty dominant under the basket



The ugly:

I think that the expectations I had for the dodgers/cardinals series against the cardinals are happening right now. THIS is the team I expected to step to the plate come postseason. Was it too cold for Billingsly to play? Season is over. Get out the golf clubs! It was a nice run.

Why must one leave people on base?

If you were to look at the box score of a game and see that one team had 14 hits, the other one had 8, who would you think came away with the victory? The 14 hit team, right? Wrong. Dodgers had 14 hits and lost the game by two runs. So many runners were left in scoring positions and not one Dodger (mostly Furcal) couldn't come through with the clutch hit. The pitching was also the other problem for the Dodgers. Kershaw and Sherrill were left in the game one too many batters. Yank their asses out when they can't thrw a strike for the life of them and the Phillies best hitter is up to the plate. That game was incredibly exciting but at the same time extremely frustrating and about two hours from now, the guy who was fired back in August will be on the mound for the Dodgers. Don't get me started about having a game in California at 1:37pm. Dodgers are going to bounce back. Rumor has it the over/under is 9. I take the under.

So for football:

I already told everyone USC was going to win. Weather is bad but I still think when there is so much hype on the underdog team, the overdog usually comes out on top.

Pro football:

Texans (+5) @ the Bengals
I'll keep telling this to everyone, games that have the Bengals included in them are close. Pick the Texans.

Packers (-13.5) over Detroit
Packers are well rested. The Lions are not good.

Bucks (+3.5) over Panthers
Bucks are at home and that doesn't really matter because this will be the battle of the crappy teams.

Jags (-9.5) over the Rams
Jags are dealing with a bunch of unhappy staff members and I think they will bounce back from this with a dominant win over the worst team in football.

Browns (+14) over the Steelers
I know the Steelers are my Superbowl team but they just can't seem to get their offense moving in the right direction (in other words, they can't cover the spread at all).

Ravens (+3) @ Vikings
Vikings are good, Ravens are good. It's going to be a good game but the Ravens are not losing three in a row - I think.

Chiefs (+6.5) over the Redskins
Chiefs keep coming close to winning their games. They will come close again against an ok Redskins team on the verge of firing their head coach.

Saints (-3) over Giants
I know the Giants are a great road team but the Saints are a great home team and they are coming off the bye.

Cardinals (+3) over Seahawks
Seahawks have one wing.

Eagles (-14.5) over Raiders
Have you seen my recent blogs? I'm not a happy camper nor will I be for this game.

Patriots (-9.5) over Titans
Titans are no longer the best winless team in football.

Jets (-9.5) over Bills
They are pissed about their two game slide. They are going to make it up against the Bills.

Falcons (-3.5) over Bears
Falcons are at home. The bears are too unpredictable. I'm just going to go with home team dog.

Broncos (+3.5) over Chargers
I've picked the Broncos every week since the beginning of the season. Why would I stop now? Also, Norv Turner has really deep pores.

Have a great weekend!

Back to reality

Ok, so I am back and have re-grouped. For four days straight I was eating as much fried food as possible (thanks to uncle Ricky):



And also thank you to Lori and Andy for putting together an unbelievable tailgate. Truly an experience to never forget.



It was also a non stop party session thanks to our cousins and friends.



It was so much fun but the LSU outcome was unfortunate. If you had them at +11 at the beginning of last week you were ok. But most people didn't. That game was such a let down. I had chills when the two teams met at mid-field and started talking smack to each other. I was convinced LSU was going to bring their A game, but instead brought their penalties. My ears are still ringing, however. That stadium is hands down the loudest place I have ever been. The good news is that the Tigers play Auburn, Bama and Ol Miss. Yea right.

Just as a side note, we did run into one of my husbands least favorite person:



Of course he was a very pleasant man however Josh has a big issue with him because of his love for the Trojans. And speaking of the Trojans they are traveling to ND this weekend for what I think is going to be a terrific game. Well, it will be a great game for the Trojans as they always work best off of rest. The first two minutes will be exciting then the Trojans will take their big lead.

More pictures to come. I will be reviewing the Dodger/Phillies series manana.

Happy Tuesday!

Little time to spare

Ok so I have found an hour to spare while visiting my family in Louisiana. But even this spare hour isn't so bland as my little cousins are putting on my high heels and walking around in them asking me to pay attention. So this is what I've got for you so far.

We got in Wednesday night and headed straight to a fabulous New Orleans dinner. We did Italian but in typical Louisiana fashion, everything was covered in Butter. For those of you visiting the New Orleans area in the future, Dominica is the way to go. Great atmosphere, great food, fair prices, and just an all around great experience.

After dinner we hit Bourbon street, more specifically the Cat's Meow. I was just drunk enough to get on stage and go all Journey on everybody. When you put a mic in my hand and I am wasted, glass starts breaking. Oh and I forgot that my friends bought me a tube shot and had to stick my head in this girls giant breasts. Good times.

Next day was lovely. Fast forward to dinner and we had an amazing meal at Ruffino's and were joined at the table next to us by Kirk Herbstreit. That USC lover boy. Being the only Dodger fan in a Baton Rouge restaurant was also quite a treat. Great great lucky game. I was going nutz. Sucks to be Holliday.

These are the picks I have for you as my hour is up:

Vikings (-10) over Rams
Vikings are good. Rams aren't.

Chiefs (+8) over Cowboys
Cowboys are not good.

Redskins (+3.5) over Panthers
I feel bad for the Redskins.

Bucs (+15) over Eagles
15 points are a lot of points. Eagles will win but they will be disappointed in the way they played.

Bengals (+8.5) over Ravens
Bengals keep their games close.

Giants (-15) over Raiders
Oy vey.

Steelers (-10.5) over Lions
Steelers are getting back on track.

Browns (+6) over Bills
They came so close last week.

Niners (-2.5) over Falcons
This is tough. Both good teams. Both know what they are doing. The niners win because they are a little better than the Falcons.

Seahawks (even) over Jags
Jags had their moment of success for the season last week.

Broncos (+3.5) over Patriots
Because the Bronco's are playing better than we expected.

Texans (+5.5) over Cardinals
Cards are over and done with.

Colts (-3.5) over Titans
Manning is on fire.

Dolphins (+1.5) over Jets
Home team dogs.

And I'm off once again

So while I'm in Louisiana, I'm going to try and keep you up to date with all the festivities going on and send along some pictures. It's going to be quite the week of sports - Dodger baseball, LSU/Florida, Sunday football. This is just incredible. I was just sent a great you tube link when LSU and Florida were playing back in 2007 and they announced the final score to the Stanford/USC game. We all know that outcome so enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4OpVFtoqRA

Currently LSU + 11. I would take Florida :)

As far as the Monday Night game last night, the Minnesota fans were pumped. I didn't quite get the hype. I know Brett was playing his old team but it wasn't like this was back in Green Bay. The only thing that I really got out of the game was that it was very playoff atmosphere like. I don't know, call me an idiot but what I noticed was that Minnesota is a good f**king team and that stadium is going to be really difficult to play in come January. Their defense is spotless - so fast, so tough, and so good at making Aaron Rogers look like a rookie. They got that kid flustered.

I'm back for a little then gone again

Sorry for the lack of posts but my brother's wedding over the weekend took up a lot of time. It also took a lot of time to recuperate as well (see attached and it will give you a good idea of what the day after was like). The weekend was fabulous and full of love though. I have two days to recover then I'm headed to the Big Easy for some Creole and then Baton Rouge for quite the football game. I knew that when I made these reservations to go to the Florida/LSU game it was going to be intense but NEVER did I think this was going to be a match-up between two undefeated teams.

That Georgia/LSU game was intense. At that point in the day I wasn't so hungover anymore. I was back to being drunk. The game being incredibly intense just helped my beer intake. We went to one of our favorite bars, Barney's Beanery, to watch the game and we were by far the loudest people there. I mean, how could you not scream your guts out?!?! SC game was nice and boring and ended the exact way I thought it was going to end. The trojans are back in the national championship talk and from what it sounds like, I think they want LSU to win this weekend. Go figure!

And in baseball news, they finally clinched the NL west and are headed into the playoffs as the least hottest team in baseball. Great! Wolfe/Kershaw games 1 and 2 should be interesting. We have got to take the first game. Wolfe cannot pitch like he did his last game. He should definitely take a few extra steroids that morning. Carpenter is going to be a headache.

Just a quick shout-out to the superbowl journey: http://sbjourney.nfl.com/
Check it out. Tons of great videos of some good football moments, players, journey's, etc. Nice job Court!